A trio of new studies published in JAMA Internal Medicine on Tuesday examining the efficacy of an arthritis drug against Covid-19 showed inconsistent results. Tocilizumab has been used by doctors since the start of the pandemic with the hope of tamping down an abnormal immune response known as a “cytokine storm” that causes severe organ damage in some hospitalized Covid-19 patients.
Of the three new studies, the largest was led by the Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women′s Hospital in the United States on more than 4,000 critically ill Covid-19 patients.